You may have heard warnings about exposure to flame retardant chemicals in everyday products, and a recent article put out by environmentalhealthnews.org links flame retardant exposure with lower IQ, poorer attention and motor skills in children. This is yet another reminder why everyone, especially women of childbearing age, pregnant women and young children should avoid exposure to PBDEs and other toxic flame retardants.

What began as an attempt to save lives from fires in homes has now been linked to neurodevelopment effects in children; including higher probabilities of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as lower reasoning, verbal, and IQ test scores.

Flame retardants were added to home furnishings in response to pressure on tobacco companies to address the issue of fire safety related to cigarette smoking. Instead of creating cigarettes that would self-extinguish, couches and other household items were doused in toxic flame retardants. Without government regulation that would require proof that exposure to flame retardants is safe, chemical companies have been able to profit while flame retardants have done far more harm than good. Fire safety experts and government studies conclude that flame retardants are ultimately ineffective. Furthermore, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune shows that these flame retardants are harmful and unnecessary!

PBDEs 101

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs) is the second largest class of additives in the plastic industry used in home furnishings and in computers and other electronics.
PBDEs are considered Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), meaning they leach out into the air and dust, and are ingested by animals. Humans consume PBDEs through inhalation of dust and consumption of animal fats. PBDEs levels in dust exceed levels in food by up to a thousand times, making dust a primary route of exposure.

PBDEs are stored in our fatty tissue, where they remain for years. This makes them highly concentrated in breast milk, which poses an increased threat to nursing infants. Infants who are not breast-fed are still exposed to PBDEs in the womb from maternal blood.Children have higher levels of PBDE concentrations than adults because they tend to play on the ground where dust accumulates. Dust also gets onto their hands, which they often place in their mouths, increasing exposure.

Californians are even more susceptible to PBDEs exposure compared to the rest of the United States, and have levels seven to ten times higher than other states. The cities with some of the highest known levels of PBDEs were found to be Oakland and Salinas, areas where predominately low-income communities of color reside.

Although some flame retardants have been phased out, others remain in older furniture. This poses a higher threat to low-income families who do not have the financial means to purchase new home furnishings. Californians are likely to have the highest exposure because of the outdated flammability standard known as TB-117 (take a look at the tag under your couch- it’s likely that your couch complies with this standard).

While this all sounds overwhelming, you can take action! We need to let our elected officials know that we want to get toxic flame retardants out of our homes and our bodies. California Governor Jerry Brown’s administration is proposing new rules that would change California’s flammability standard. The changes would exempt many baby products including car seats, changing pads and infant mattresses from the flammability standard. There is a 45-day public comment period in which chemical companies will try to dispute the proposed changes. It is urgent that we show our support now!

Exposure to PBDEs is unavoidable, but there are things you can do to limit your exposure:

• Wash your hands frequently to reduce exposure from dust.
• Use a vacuum fitted with a high-efficiency particulate air(HEPA) filter, which can be found in most home improvement stores, and wet mop to reduce dust.
• Avoid products filled with polyurethane foam and instead purchase products with wool, organic cotton, or polyester fiberfill.
• Cover and seal rips in upholstery that may reveal polyurethane foam
• Reduce your consumption of animal fat, because PBDEs bio accumulate in fatty tissues
• Check the “Do Not Remove” label on your mattress to see if it contains PBDEs. If you cannot afford to buy a new, natural fiber mattress, you can purchase an allergen barrier casing for your mattress to reduce leaching.

Cross Posted from Center for Environmental Health’s Generation Green blog.

The holidays can be stressful, especially for those of us who are aware of all the harmful chemicals in too many products on the store shelves today. Sometimes I just want to look for gifts for my loved ones without having to wonder what dangerous toxins might be lurking in every product.

I also know it can be even more stressful for those who have to live with an eco-freak like me during the holidays. When my wife and I are shopping and she sees a purse she really likes, she knows I’m not thinking “That would make a great gift for her,” but more likely, “I wonder if that’s made with lead-tainted faux leather?” When she brings home a new toy she thinks will make a great gift for our daughter, she expects me to say, “But is that made with PVC?” Even my kids know that my adoring gaze when they’re drinking from their water bottles is also concealing the mad desire to rip the bottles from their hands and bring them to work to have them tested for hormone-altering properties.

Even if you’re not hyper-vigilant about toxic hazards, everyone deserves to be protected from these threats to our children and families. So this holiday season, we created the CEH Toxic-Free Guide to the Holidays (below). Our slideshow gives you tips on how to avoid many common health threats in everything from arts and crafts to wrapping paper. Considering new kitchenware for a gift? Our guide gives in-depth tips on what to look for and what to avoid. Thinking about jewelry for that special someone? We’ll show you how to avoid lead and cadmium risks. A nice basket of body lotions and skin products sounds nice, but our guide shows you how to avoid a widely used antibacterial and buy safer products.

Working for a public health nonprofit can get you in trouble with your friends. I’ve been accused of trying to spoil everything from burgers to candy, Valentine’s Day to Halloween. So with Thanksgiving just around the corner, it seemed like time to take on yet another beloved American obsession.

No, I’m not talking turkey – meat eaters’ Thanksgiving dinner is safe from CEH (for now). But dessert time is another matter.

Read the rest of this entry →

Californians have a chance next Tuesday to support our right to know what’s in our food. Proposition 37, the GMO Right-to-Know Act calls for labels to inform consumers when food is genetically modified (GMO).

If this seems like common sense, it is. Dozens of other countries require labeling on GMO foods, but in the U.S., the biotech, pesticide and food industries teamed up with FDA bureaucrats, who overruled the agency’s scientists (who said that GMOs could trigger new allergies, cause toxic effects in food, and result in other health problems) and decided that GMOs would not be subject to labeling laws (not terribly surprising, given FDA’s track record of dubious drug approvals).

But of course, Monsanto (the leading maker of GMO seeds) and their allies are spending millions of dollars to run anti-choice ads that spread lies about Prop 37 and our right to know about GMO food. Even after being exposed for lying, the pesticide makers’ campaign continues to mislead Californians about this simple labeling measure.

Read the rest of this entry →

Parents continue to be alarmed at findings about toxic flame retardants in our homes – not only in our furniture but in many products for our kids. Writing for the Baltimore Post-Examiner, Sara Michael calls herself “a first-time mom with Type A tendencies,” and those tendencies serve her well in her excellent review of the flame retardants controversy. These chemicals are still in wide use primarily due to a California flame retardant standard that encourages companies to use flame retardants even though federal government studies have found they provide little or no fire safety benefit.

As the Baltimore-based first-time mom found, this California rule has national implications: she found tags noting the use of flame retardants in her son’s pajamas and his foam changing pad. As she notes, these flame retardants are wholly unnecessary, and worse, they threaten our children’s health. Numerous recent studies have linked flame retardant chemicals to lower IQs, reduced fertility, hormonal changes, and hindering neurological development in infants and children, among other health threats.

What’s more, studies show that these chemicals are in our blood, in our kids, in our pets and in the environment. Studies have also found flame retardants in breast milk, leading to a recent comment by TV and film star Fran Drescher warning moms about the dangers of breast milk. The star of the forthcoming Hotel Transylvania is making a great contribution drawing attention to the environmental factors related to disease with her nonprofit Cancer Schmancer. And who wouldn’t be concerned when we hear that breastmilk can dose our newborns with toxic flame retardants and other harmful chemicals?  Read the rest of this entry →

Tuesday, June 26^th, marked an exciting time in the recent battle of human and environmental health vs. corporate profits as the California State Assembly held a public hearing on the science of flame retardants to provide the opportunity for scientists, environmental health activists, furniture manufacturers, firefighters, burn specialists, and community members to inform state legislators on this time sensitive issue. This issue was of the utmost importance to address due to the recent exposure of the deceptive nature of big name chemical companies (see The Chicago Tribune) seeking to cover up serious concerns about the harmful health effects of flame retardant chemicals. Read the rest of this entry →

Last year, in my final month of high school, my parents sat me and my sister down one afternoon and said they had something serious to discuss. Almost instantly, the look of worry etched into my moms’ faces foreshadowed that the discussion wouldn’t be a happy one. My moms (I have two; Dawn is my birth mother and Audrey is my sister’s) sat down across from us, paused, and then shared the news that changed the course of our lives. My mom Dawn had breast cancer.

After three months of chemotherapy, Dawn lost her hair, her appetite, her energy, but never lost her positive spirit, despite feeling weakened by her illness. My mother is beautiful, kind, warm-hearted, and resilient. She has the character traits best equipped to handle an unsuspected onset of cancer; however with that said, months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy can break down even the strongest individual.

Our family rotated around her cancer like planets around the sun. Following radiation treatment in December, she beat the cancer in her breast, but discovered a new threat: cancer in her brain. While currently undergoing her seventh or eighth round of radiation treatment, Dawn and her doctors are hopeful this will be the final treatment step towards full recovery.

Over the past year, our family was so consumed with fighting the cancer, we didn’t stop to wonder what had caused it in the first place. I recently discovered that cause of her cancer (and the cancer of many others across the nation) could be from a seemingly harmless action: EATING CANNED FOODS.
Read the rest of this entry →

I thought that I was in the clear. That I dodged some bullets. I had two healthy pregnancies, during which I tried to do all the right things: I avoided gas stations and mainstream cleaning products. I didn’t color my hair, polish my nails or smoke.  Now nine years later, I have two healthy and thriving little girls, and we try to create a healthy home together.

But then last week, I found myself at the 20^th Anniversary celebration of the Breast Cancer Fund. The Breast Cancer Fund fights to get scientists, the medical establishment and policy makers to pay as much attention to the cause of breast cancer as the cure.  During the evening, I was reminded once again how vulnerable women are to environmental exposure to chemicals, how our breast tissue is particularly sensitive. And most importantly, how puberty is a crucial window of vulnerability for girls, opening up channels of influence to chemicals much like those months in-utero. Only now our kids are older, a little more out of our grasp and control than when they were babies. Her speech shook me to the core. Suddenly, it feels like that bullet is coming right at me again.

My older daughter is on the cusp of puberty at 9 years old, my younger just a few years behind. All of those potent feelings I experienced during my pregnancies and their babyhood came flooding back. The momentary and false sense of control – if only I can buy the right sunscreen/feed them the right foods/clean with the right products, I can avoid unwanted exposures to environmental toxins like mercury, bisphenol A, phthalates, or flame retardants.  But now we know that exposure to these chemicals is beyond the control of any of us alone.
Read the rest of this entry →

When we think about air pollution, we most likely visualize exhaust fumes, power plant and industrial emissions, and that brown haze of smog that hangs over major cities. But, studies readily show that our greatest exposure to polluted air comes when we are indoors, usually in our own homes! Levels of certain pollutants can be up to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors. So, what can we do to protect our families and ourselves from what studies show is a major risk to our health?

Indoor air pollution is composed of gasses and particles that come from a wide variety of sources, many of them rarely thought of as health hazards. Tobacco smoke is an obvious one that is well recognized as harmful. Members of the family that smoke should always smoke outside, most families already follow this simple line of attack on indoor air pollution. But what about those air fresheners that smell so nice? Most people do not consider them pollutants, but they definitely are. Unless you are using pure essential oils in a water base and spritzing your home with that, you are contributing to the burden of pollutants in your home’s air with scented candles, solid air fresheners and sprays (and depending on the oils used, you may even be adding allergens to the air with those). Each of these contains an abundance of petrochemicals, some even known to cause cancer! Cleaning and personal care products are some of the least expected but potentially most dangerous products. It is well worth the few extra dollars to switch to “green” cleaning products and natural personal care products. The chemicals found in conventional cleaners, adhesives, pesticides, air fresheners, paints and other products can lead to a host of health problems. These include liver, kidney and brain damage, as well as headaches, nose and eye irritation and cancers. Read the rest of this entry →

Even though my son is now three years old, I can still recall how nervous I was around his sleep habits when he was a newborn. If he slept longer than the expected 3-4 hours at a stretch, I would hover over his crib, sending him subliminal messages to, “Wake up already!” just so that I knew he was OK. Sometimes those messages weren’t so subliminal: a caress on the cheek, a kiss on the forehead. As a more seasoned parent, I now know the flaw in my logic—one should never wake a sleeping baby!

Thankfully my son is still a sleepyhead.  Not a bad thing to be, as kids do need plenty of rest to grow. Until you factor in “Mattress Matters” the recent study on crib mattresses by coalition partners Clean and Healthy NY, which found that most leading brands of crib mattresses used by kids today contain chemicals linked to allergies, reproductive harm, and even cancer. Read the rest of this entry →